reverb

[astro25]

does anyone know some good settings for reverb on vocals for rap? i tend to always get lost at this part. the reverb rap production has is more subtle, its like u can't hear it, but its there, and if it wasn't there, it would sound different. i know u guys should have some answers for this question. thanks and peace.

 

[Fade]

Well I haven't played around with vocals too much, but when I did add reverb, I used one of the presets in Cakewalk and then tweaked it a bit until it sounded right to me. Less is always better, because too much would make the vocals sound out of place with the rest of the track.

What program are you using to record your vocals?

 

[astro25]

i use cakewalk.

 

[Fade]

Do you have the Audio FX? That's got some nice reverb.

 

[Phreeze]

Reverb Issues

Hmmm

Production rule #1 - what's the mood/feel of the song like?

Since most hip-hop/rap is straight ahead spittin' - less reverb is better.

But you're also right - you know it's in there.

The trick is to use a room or hall reverb - not too big of a space, 3.5 secs or so

And listen to just the vocals while adjusting the fader, or clicking the gain on the reverb effect until you barely "feel" it.

NOT HEAR IT...

Of course you'll hear it a little, but we want to feel the space, not be trapped in it like Eminem is an opera singer...

...Unless that's the mood of the song of course...

 

[astro25]

yes, i have the audio fx fade. oh yeah, and thanks phreeze for the tips.

 

[astro25]

hey fade, what are ur settings for audio fx's in cakewalk?

 

[Helios]

I use Cool Edit Pro
I love stereo repeaters =)
I think that most of them fast tracks are combined with stereo repeaters for the vocals.

most of what yall listening to, there isn't much to say about.

Dirty South productions are the best.
I wonder how they make those vocals with a nice surround and presence.

Young Bloods - cadillac pimpin'

that track has nice reverbs (in one part of the track)
even that ol' Three 6 Mafia track "sippin on some sizzurp" has nice reverbs.

 

[vitaminman]

Hey,

Hmmmm...I've been listening to a lot of newer rap recently, it doesn't seem like a lot of it has any reverb in it at all, rather there is a lot of double-tracking and clever editing.

Since the point of a rap music is to bring the vocals right to the front of the track, it would be best not to use any reverb at all, reverb will tend to make the vocals appear as if they are in the back or distant. Also, because of the nature of reverb, it will tend to muddy the vocals up and cover all the other sounds in the background and across the stereo field.

A good effect, though, is to run your vocals through a pitch shifter and mix it back with the original. This is how Tu-Pac got his sound (I think), this can make the vocals appear tough and thick without losing clarity that reverb can do.

Nick

BTW If you're looking for 'clean' reverbs, and big favorite is the TC Native Reverb...

 

[Prophet]

2pac got tough vocal sound because he had multi-layer vocal. If you listen to Makaveli or All Eyez on Me, he rap over himself at same octave. Then some of his rap is fifth up or lower than set octave. You can hear it is multi-layer vocal because sometime 2pac fuck up his words but producer let it in anyway, or his timing is off on rap. Sounds like you have good cheating plan, but may sound artificial!

 

[vitaminman]

Prophet,

I'll have to listen more closely to Tu-Pac then. I ran a vocal track through one of the pitch-shifters on my DSP Factory and it sounded identical to Tu-Pac, so I assumed that they did something similar.

I didn't shift it a fifth or anything (it would have sounded totally hillarious) but rather by a few cents in both directions with no delay so that the timing was tight.

I'm no stranger to double-tracking, I do that sometimes too often when recording and mixing singing parts!

Vous parlez francais? Deutsch?

Nick

 

[Prophet]

Most of tracks on All Eyez on Me or some on Makaveli have him rapping in different key when he multi-layer vocal.

Oui, ja, si. I am in Lugano, we speak Italian here, but you need to know the main languages.